Harry Potter or Thakurmaar Jhuli

8/10/2019 Harry Potter or Thakurmaar Jhuli

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Realism. Marcos in an interview admitted that he got the idea of Magic Realism from his

grandparents, especially from his grandmotherDoa Tranquilina Iguarn Cotes.

Folklore forms an integral part of culture across regions and time. It was the noted Bengali

writer Dakkhinaranjan Mitra Majumdar who did a pioneering job of collecting and compilation

of a huge floating mass of folklore. He titled his collection, Thakurmar Jhuli (Grandmothers Bag

of Tales). It was first published in 1907; the book celebrated its centenary in 2007.It has

remained one of the best loved collections of childrens stories with characters such as fairies

(Pari), witches (Dainies), demons (Daitya), princes (RaajPutra), and princesses (Raajkannya). He

had undeniably done what Sir Walter Scott did for Scottish Songs and lyrics or Jean Bodel did

for Medieval Romances.

Besides this, Majumdar has another three books entitled Thakurdadar Jhuli or Grandfathers

Bag of Tales, (1909), Thandidir Thole or Maternal Grandmothers Bag of Tales, (1909) and

Dadamoshayer Thole or Maternal Grandfathers Bag of Tales, (1913). Like the first one

(Thakurmaar Jhuli), these books also are collections of fairy tales, folktales, ritual tales, and

comical tales respectively.

To make generic distinction each of these collections is also subtitled.Thakurmar Jhuli is

subtitled Banglar Roopkatha (Fairy Tales of Bengal); Thakurdadar Jhuli is subtitled Banglar

Kathashahitya (Narrative Literature of Bengal);and Dadamoshayer Jhuli is subtitled Banglar

Rasokatha (Humorous Tales of Bengal).Thakurmar Jhuli, however, remains through

generations, the best loved among theentire body of Majumdars work.

In general, the stories revolve around Ghosts, Demons, Animals, gods and goddesses, Kings and

Queens, prince and princess, sons of minister (Mantri-putra), Army Head (Senapati) and their

sons (Kutal-putra) etc. with a touch of Indianness. Miracles and magic abound -- animals foretell

the future, princes disguise themselves as birds or animals, perform heroic deeds, fight and win

over the evil forces etc. Each story usually has a moral at the end.Evil is punished and good is

rewarded or at least the end is noted with a final proclamation ---and they live happily

thereafter ----. Here we get the underlying theme of 'Satyamebo Jayate'(Truth wins at last) or

'Madhureno Samapayet' (Alls well that ends well)which provides a universal appeal as well!

An Anecdote: The idea of animals talking like man was originally a characteristic of Indian

folktales or Rupkathas written in the Sanskrit texts like Niti Sataka Slokas(Hundred Rhymes of


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Wisdom), Panchatantra by Vidyasagar or the epics The Ramayana and The Mahabharata. The

incidents of Ramayana were real happenings that took place nearly 8000 years ago while the

incidents of Mahabharata practically happened nearly 5000 years ago. The French travelers

took the idea to France and from there it spread all over the world as Fabliaux or fables.

Again, like Harry potter, we have also some legendary characters here in Thakurmar Jhuli.

These are namely Lalkamal-Nilkamal, Byangoma-Byangomi, Sat Bhai Champa (seven brothers

and a sister named champa), and common character like Rajputra /Rajkanya etc.

Dakshinaranjan Mitra Majumder (1877-1957) was the pioneer who tried to collect those stories

for the first time and edited and published them under the name of Thakurmar Jhuli

(Grandmother's bag of stories, 1907) and Thakurdadar Jhuli (Grandfather's bag of stories,

1909). Other persons to be mentioned here is Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay, Premendra Mitra,Sukumar Roy and Upendra Kishore Roy Chowdhury (1863-1915), and also Satyajit Ray,the

famous world-acclaimed film maker. The contribution of erstwhile prestigious publishing House

named Dev Saahitya Kutirincorporated as a PLC in 11thNovember 1955is also unforgettable in

this regard. They provided dual services(i) Published the Fairy tales/folktales of unknown

authors and (2) Kept the price of these tales very low so that anybody could afford to have a

copy of their own.

But alas! Rupkatha or other fairy tales have never received spontaneous acclaim like Harrypotter even in India; neither do they get any media-publicity even in this day of revolution in

print media and publicity. Most probably it is because, India's well-educated, upper-middle

class and so-called elite people usually prefer reading foreign books rather than their age-old

folk-stories. This attitude is also seen in case of comic tales like, Nante-Fante, Handa-Bhoda;

Batul the Great etc. Keeping aside these classic books Indian elites (i,e Capable readers) hand

Batman,Taarjaan, Spiderman, Phantom stories etc to their kids. It is really a debatable matter

whether it is a snobbish obsession for becoming Global or simply an impact of 200 years of

Colonial subjugation.

Whatever the geographical boundaries are, the realm of folklore and oral narratives occupy a

distinct category of importance. A generally accepted notion about folklore is that it survives

within a particular society because it fulfils certain social functions which can be many and also,


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on the other hand, be specific to certain cultures. D.K.Bhatterjee in his book on the topic

published in 2005, has noticed the following importance in folktales/fairy tales----

Recreation or amusement

Education

Socialization

Protest or propaganda

Communication of knowledge

A more surprising aspect of Harry Potter, which I believe, not known to the Potter maniacs, is

its similarities with the age old Hindu god lord Krishna. A close parallel between Harry and Lord

Krishna is discernable in almost all the episodes of Harry Potter Books. The parallels between

Harry and Lord Krishna are so distinct that sometimes the reader would feel that they are

reading the postmodern adaptations of the life and works of Lord Krishna.

So, there is no justification of being Potter maniac forgetting our age old indigenous tales of

wisdom and entertainment. Truly speaking the very problem is rooted in Postmodern

snobbishness. In order to be global, we Indians, have lost sight of our very own Glocal

treasures.

If Colonialism is the root, then Globalization is definitely the provider of nourishment to this

Potter mania. The only way to regain the independent outlook and be thoughtful about our

indigenous Thakurmar Jhuli and paying due respect/attention to it, demands an obligation to

local cultural heritage or in other words, a necessity for Glocalization. And it is high time to do

so. Otherwise the very existence of our already endangered indigenous cultural heritage will be

lost, and lost for ever.

So, with due respect to Indian Potter maniacs', it may be said that they should check their very

own folk tales/folk-stories as well to test/enjoy Indias age-old treasure trove hidden in

children literature along with the tales of Ramayana and Mahabharata before passing their

sage comment that Rowling is Superb!

[1430 words]

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Harry Potter or Thakurmaar Jhuli